Ford’s new 2023 Super Duty pickups and chassis cab trucks go long on technology to be safer and easier to use.
The Super Duty pickups are used for everything from personal transportation to utility company bucket trucks and ambulances.
Incredibly capable, I used Super Duties to tow 30,000- and 40,000-pound trailers up and down steep hills and around curving hillside rounds at Ford’s heavily wooded Romeo Proving Ground northeast of Detroit, but the real revelations were new safety and connectivity features that will change life for drivers, and even more so for the companies that use hundreds of thousands of Super Duties every day. Updates to the rear frame and hitch improved towing performance and stability. The Super Duty’s towing ratings are not subject to the Society of Automotive Engineers’ requirements known as SAE 2807.
The trucks use a new electric architecture and AT&T 5G connectivity to enable other features.
Millions of miles of data every day
“We’re getting millions of miles of data from vehicles every day,” said Tim Baughman, general manager of the Ford Pro North America commercial vehicle unit.
That’s courtesy of modems that track everything from maintenance schedules to whether drivers are accelerating or braking aggressively. Ford collects the data with the owners’ permission and uses it both to study how the trucks are used.
The data can be used for real-time, in-cab driver coaching, which Ford says can reduce speeding 75% and aggressive driving 80%.
In the future, “Fleet mangers can set maximum speed limits for their vehicles,” said Matt Wilczewski, of Ford Pro telematics.
Tailgate-down view
A tiny camera mounted in the top of the tailgate peers up at the sky when the tailgate is closed, but becomes a major aid for backing up to loading docks when the tailgate’s open for loading. Combined with rear object detection, the camera allows a driver to back up virtually flush to a loading dock with the tailgate down and the truck bed stacked high with cargo. The high-resolution camera allows the driver to clearly see the grain in wood or plastic as they back up within a fraction of an inch of the loading dock.
Programmable touch screen
Vehicle upfitters can add one-touch controls for up to 32 features to the Super Duty’s 12-inch touch screen. The interface allows them to build in multistep commands for features to make jobs safer and more efficient. For example, the controls for a bucket truck’s arm can be programmed to talk to the drivetrain, so an operator can’t accidentally drive away with the bucker extended, potentially damaging the truck, overhead wires and any number of other things.
Another example: The control for a snowplow can be programmed to raise the blade when the truck backs up and lower it when shifted into drive, avoiding wear from dragging the blade on the pavement.
Trailer navigation
In addition to programming the truck’s blind spot alert to accommodate the dimensions of a specific trailer, Super Duty will plot navigation routes that accommodate the trailer’s length, width and height to avoid low bridges and tight turns.
Contact Mark Phelan: 313-222-6731 or mmphelan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan. Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.